‘ Many students currently living off campus and those thinking about
living off campus in the future are up in arms. Boston City Council
President Michael Ross has proposed another housing ordinance.
Ross’ proposed ordinance, which he announced two weeks ago, would
require Boston universities to report the addresses of students where
there are five or more undergraduates living in a single off-campus
apartment to the Inspectional Services Department and to notify the
students that their actions are against the law.
In March 2008, the Boston Zoning Board unanimously approved a measure
that limits undergraduate students in the city to no more than four
roommates per apartment. The new limits apply only to full-time
undergraduate students at a post-secondary educational institution and
do not apply to graduate students or to other unrelated groups of
people.
In the period since, Ross has reported to media outlets that students
and landlords throughout the city have largely ignored the amendment,
and the Inspectional Services Department has not had any way to
effectively enforce it, according to an article in the Feb. 19 issue
of The News.
Now, Ross is asking Boston universities to give out students’ personal
information. Requesting schools to provide the city with student
addresses seems like an invasion of privacy. If the ordinance passes,
Northeastern will be told they have to tattle on their students.
Furthermore, this ordinance is a waste of resources. If it passes,
Northeastern will have to provide extra information to the city of
Boston, which, in turn, creates more work for an employee or requires
a new position at the university. Now we will have to pay someone to
provide addresses to the city to satisfy Ross.
Let’s be realistic here. If the ordinance passes, many students will
likely not be truthful to the schools about their addresses anyway.
They will find ways out of providing Northeastern with the information
and continue to beat the system.
The city needs to back off ‘- this proposal is ridiculous. It infringes
on the privacy of students and is a waste of university resources.
Students are still getting away with having more than four people
living in a single apartment. Why stop now?
But Ross is not the only one who should change his course of action.
Last year when the ‘no more than four’ decision was made, there was a
huge student outcry. As of press time, one of the Facebook groups
against the law, ‘Boston students in protest of no more than four
law,’ had 780 members. But even with that level of ‘support,’ few did
anything to try to make a real difference.
Students need to voice their opinions in more effective ways than by
joining a Facebook group. Students should register to vote and go to
the next city elections. Massachusetts has no waiting period for voter
registration; as soon as you move to your new address, you are
eligible to register to vote, according to the city of Boston’s
website.
With that said, students living in the neighborhoods around
Northeastern should seize this opportunity to have a say in Boston
laws, because as long as students populate Mission Hill, these laws
will continue to affect them.